New York Times: Cruz Is Off Bestsellers List Due To “Strategic Bulk Purchases”

This week, HarperCollins, the book’s publisher, sent a letter to The New York Times inquiring about Cruz’s omission from the list, sources with knowledge of the situation said. The Times responded by telling HarperCollins that the book did not meet their criteria for inclusion. “We have uniform standards that we apply to our best seller list, which includes an analysis of book sales that goes beyond simply the number of books sold,” Times spokesperson Eileen Murphy explained when asked about the omission. “This book didn’t meet that standard this week.” Asked to specify those standards, Murphy replied: “Our goal is that the list reflect authentic best sellers, so we look at and analyze not just numbers, but patterns of sales for every book.” Both HarperCollins and the Cruz campaign declined to comment on the matter.

In an update to the above-linked the story, the Times spokesman adds: “In the case of this book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases.” Such bulk purchases have long been used to buy one’s way onto the list.